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Welcome back to GameSpot PC's Game Collector, where we always round up a set of great classic games. This week, we're covering underrated treasures--games that were great in their own way but might have been overshadowed by more-popular games. Though our reviewers made sure to give each of these games the credit they deserved, they still didn't seem to get as much attention as they should have. That's unfortunate, but every single one of this week's entries is an underrated treasure that's definitely worthy of a spot in your collection.
Anachronox (2001)
Street Price: $27
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Ion Storm's console-style role-playing game seemed to come and go with little fanfare, if any. That's too bad, because this sci-fi game was a refreshing change of pace from the generally plodding, number-crunching gameplay in most traditional computer RPGs. Anachronox has a very diverse cast of bizarre and funny characters acting out an outstanding story--one that eventually earned it GameSpot's best story award for 2001. It's a very good game with a lot of personality.
Comanche 4 (2001)
Street Price: $30
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The fourth game in NovaLogic's Comanche series might not have had the same impact as the first game, but it's still a great ride. This great-looking game tends to abandon carefully modeled physics for arcade-style action, and it does a great job of it. Comanche 4 has a full set of tutorial missions, but even beginners can easily jump into the cockpit and get started immediately on the game's exciting combat missions.
Commandos 2: Men of Courage (2001)
Street Price: $35
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For some reason, "The Dirty Half-Dozen" never really became a household name, even in spite of Pyro Studios' excellent 2001 sequel, Commandos 2: Men of Courage. The sequel expands on every aspect of the original strategy game--commanding a squad of seasoned soldiers, each with different, specialized skills, on top-secret missions. Commandos 2 has more troops, more abilities, and gigantic mission maps. A word of warning: Commandos 2 is an outstanding game, but it's also extremely tough!
Europa Universalis II (2001)
Street Price: $35
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Paradox Entertainment did an excellent job with the original Europa Universalis--a loose adaptation of a tabletop board game that's based on the exploration and conquest of the old world. Despite the ambitious and complex models of national economy and diplomacy, Europa Universalis turned out to be a great strategy game. And Paradox one-upped itself by releasing the sequel in the same year. Europa Universalis II expands on several aspects of the original game--most importantly, it had a broader appeal for veteran players and a much more comprehensive set of tutorials and documentation for beginners.
Hundred Swords (2002)
Street Price: $19.99
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Japanese developer Smilebit is known for creating such innovative games as The Typing of the Dead and Jet Set Radio for the Dreamcast console. Hundred Swords, its real-time strategy game, ended up on US shores as a budget-priced PC game. But it isn't like most real-time strategy games you may have played; it has more emphasis on its characters and story, presumably because it was originally developed for a video game console. But that background shouldn't discourage you from trying out this distinctive strategy game.
Myth III: The Wolf Age (2001)
Street Price: $30
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Bungie's excellent fantasy-themed strategy series has earned a significant fan following over the years--so when fans discovered that Bungie wouldn't develop the third game in the series, many were skeptical. But Myth III: The Wolf Age turned out to be a very solid real-time strategy game that added new units, maps, and missions without drastically changing the core game. Myth III also has an interesting story, which was something of a prequel to the events that had taken place in the previous games.
Project Eden (2001)
Street Price: $25
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This action adventure game from the creator of Tomb Raider lets you command a squad of high-tech police officers who must keep the peace in a space-age metropolis. In the course of your patrols in Project Eden, you'll come up against a lot of interesting puzzles that actually make good use of both your squad's special abilities and the game's futuristic environments.
Rally Trophy (2001)
Street Price: $30
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Though it focuses on solo rally racing--a seemingly lonely sport that involves a race car, a driver, and a navigator in a race against the clock, rather than a track full of competitors--Rally Trophy is a great racing game for what it is. The game looks great, and it models the no-holds-barred racing style of solo rally racing beautifully--though it also has an "arcade" mode that lets you run traditional races too.
Summoner (2001)
Street Price: $25
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Summoner is an ambitious role-playing game that basically tried to bridge the gap between traditional PC role-playing games and console role-playing games; it appeared on both the PC and the PS2 console. Summoner has the same sort of skill-based character advancement you might see in a PC role-playing game, but it has a distinctive rhythm-based combat system that resembles that of a console RPG. It also has a solid 3D engine, which helped make Summoner one of 2001's best-looking PC role-playing games.
Trainz (2002)
Street Price: $35
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Developer Auran is best known for Dark Reign, its cult-classic real-time strategy game from 1997, but it shifted gears to create Trainz. Strangely enough, Trainz is a simulation of a simulation--that is, it's a computer game that models model railroad building. That may sound a bit strange, but once you start playing, you'll see that Trainz does an outstanding job of re-creating the joy of building your very own model railroad, without having to worry about snap-together plastic pieces or taking up any space in your garage.
Be sure to visit GameBuyer to find more great deals on both classic and recently released computer games.
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